More security for 160 small discoverers

Children have a great sense of adventure – and that doesn't always end at the front door of the nursery school. When the city of Albstadt planned and built a daycare centre over the course of three years, they faced a challenge: "We had to ensure that no child can leave the day care centre without supervision and no unauthorised person can access the facility. That would be disastrous," explains the head of the office for construction and services Bernd-Michael Abt.

The entrance door cannot simply be locked. Children and teachers must be able to leave the building quickly and safely in case of danger. The city chose solutions by ASSA ABLOY Sicherheitstechnik GmbH. The globally leading manufacturer and supplier of lock solutions and safety systems has developed a concept specially for nursery schools. The decision-makers of the city are so satisfied with the nursery school solution combined with the SCALA access control that they plan to successively integrate electronic access systems in all of their nursery school facilities.

The daycare center "Veilchenweg" relies on

Escape door terminals to guarantee escape routes

Locking devices so no kid can leave unattended

Access control so no unauthorised person has access

Panic lock MEDIATOR for higher burglary resistance

Door closer DC700 for easy opening and reliable closing of the door

Brightly-painted rooms, hand-made works of art on the walls, laughter ringing through the hallways – that sums up the city's Veilchenweg daycare centre in Albstadt-Tailfingen. It is the largest nursery school facility in the city with a population of 45,000. 160 one to seven-year-olds play and have fun here. 25 teachers supervise them and are responsible for their safety. This includes making sure that no child leaves the building unaccompanied. And no unauthorised person is to enter the facility. "In order to support the teachers in their responsibilities as an institution and to offer as much safety for the children as possible – in case of danger, for example – we have considered which door concept could fulfil our requirements," explains Abt. The city decided to equip the facility with products by ASSA ABLOY Sicherheitstechnik GmbH: with the nursery school solution, the SCALA net access control, the self-locking MEDIATOR® panic lock and modern door closers.

Nursery school solution prevents disappearances

The nursery school solution fulfils the requirements of modern care facilities, is legally admissible as well as comfortable and easy to use. The entrance doors are also secured to the normal lock with an escape-door locking system. The door can be opened from inside by two push-buttons. One button is positioned at a height of 1.80 metres, so it can only be reached by adults. It can be used to open the door at any time to let people in or out of the daycare centre. A second button is positioned at a height of approximately one metre. This button is integrated in an escape route terminal. If it is pressed, the door opens and an alarm sounds. This allows children to open the door themselves in an emergency, but not to disappear unnoticed.

"The system is well thought out. Parents and the nursery school staff have no problem using the system at all," says Uta Digeser, head of the facility on Veilchenweg, with satisfaction. "Thanks to this solution, only authorised people can get into the facility; the little ones cannot disappear through the door unnoticed and, in case of danger, the escape door is secured." From the outside, the entrance doors of the daycare centre can be opened at set times – for example, at drop-off and collection times. This means the teachers do not need to open the door for each of the 160 parents.

The nursery school solution complies with the guidelines for electronic locking systems in escape route doors (EltVTR) and is tested by MPA NRW. The system is made up of just a few components: this makes installation and maintenance quick and uncomplicated.

Expanded with access control

Depending on the individual requirements of the facilities the nursery school solution by ASSA ABLOY can be expanded, combined and retrofitted as required. At the Veilchenweg daycare centre, the city has chosen a combination with the easy-to-manage SCALA net EAC system. SCALA net allows a system structure integrated into a network and offers the full range of functionality of an access control. This includes a timer, zone monitoring and, as in Albstadt, a lift controller. The system also provides a complete overview of entry, exit and door statuses. "This therefore gives us more control of who accesses the facility and certain rooms," says Abt.

A special benefit is offered by the escutcheons and cylinders with Aperio® radio technology used in the daycare centre. This allows doors to be easily integrated into the system without additional cabling. And SCALA net makes keys unnecessary. Teachers, cleaners, caretakers and city administrators have a transponder that stores the access authorisation for one or multiple doors. This means only authorised persons can enter a room or the building.

Uta Digeser appreciates the comfort of the access control: "My employees and I do not need numerous keys for various doors. With the programmed transponders I can give more people controlled access to our facility – even at short notice and temporarily." If a transponder gets lost or is stolen, this does not result in a security leak. Digeser can simply delete the access authorisation of the transponder. Whoever finds it or has stolen it can no longer access the daycare facility with it. This also offers protection against burglars.

MEDIATOR against thieves

The MEDIATOR® system offers additional protection against thieves on the external doors of the daycare centre. MEDIATOR is a self-locking panic lock. When the door closes, it is automatically locked. Additional manual locking is not necessary. With the integrated panic function, the door can be opened from inside without a key or transponder. The MEDIATOR can also be used in combination with an intercom or access control. This allows the MEDIATOR to combine all the requirements of the functionality of an escape door, intrusion protection and comfort.

Opening doors is child's play

The integrated DC 700 door closers by ASSA ABLOY provide additional comfort and suitability for children. It ensures that the internal doors close reliably and securely on their own. The door closers work with Cam-Motion® technology. This allows even heavy doors to be opened with minimal effort. This ensures that small children can also open any door within the daycare centre themselves. The resistance that door closers normally exert when opening is significantly reduced with the Cam-Motion® technology. Thermodynamic valves ensure a constant functioning of the door closer, regardless of temperature fluctuations, and therefore a high level of functionality of the door.

An example to other municipal facilities

The city of Albstadt is very happy with the concept by ASSA ABLOY. They were so impressed with the combination of a secure nursery school solution and simple electronic access control that the Veilchenweg daycare centre has become an example for future building projects. "The solution eliminates a number of problems with the door concept of a daycare facility. For this reason, we intend to successively install electronic door systems in the other nursery schools and municipal buildings," explains Abt.